Rebels advance,Gaddafi end near

Rebels within 30 miles of Tripoli; Gaddafi may be preparing to flee.

Rebels encircled the beleaguered Libyan capital on Saturday,claiming to have taken major towns to its east,west and south,leaving only the NATO-patrolled sea to the north.

With residents continuing to stream out of the capital,Tripoli,and reports of the third defection of a major government official in a week,rumors swept Libya that Muammar Gaddafi was preparing to flee,if he had not already. The Libyan leader has not been seen in public for weeks,and his grip on the country he has ruled for 42 years appeared increasingly tenuous.

By Saturday afternoon,the rebels had driven Gaddafis forces out of the strategic oil refinery town of Zawiyah,30 miles west of Tripoli. Al Jazeera reported that Zlitan,a crucial Gaddafi barracks town east of Tripoli,also had fallen to the rebels. Farther east,the rebels claimed to have seized the residential areas of the oil port of Brega,a prize that had changed hands many times since the uprising began.

Rebel leaders were optimistic. The end is very near for Gaddafi,said Mustafa Abdel-Jalil,leader of the rebels governing council. We have contacts with people from the inner circle of Gaddafi. All evidence is that the end is very near,with Gods grace.

But the battle was hardly over. Government forces were still fighting fiercely outside Zawiyah,and in Brega they controlled the refinery.

Tripoli,while under pressure,remains a Gaddafi stronghold,as does Surt,a coastal city to the east,and Sabha to the south. Government officials insisted they would fight to the end.

The Tunisian state news agency reported that Libyas oil chief,Omran Abukraa,had defected to Tunisia. The agency,TAP,said he left Tripoli for business in Italy and decided not to return. If confirmed,his defection would be the third of a senior official in the past week. Abdel Salam Jalloud,a former Gaddafi deputy,was reported to have defected Friday. Senior security official Nassr al-Mabrouk Abdullah flew to Cairo with his family on Monday.KAREEM FAHIM